System for an Open Architecture Deployment Platform with Centralized Synchronization

ABSTRACT

One aspect of the preferred embodiment relates to an application framework for managing mobile clients and application programs. By utilizing the preferred embodiment, a system administrator may be provided the capability to manage and control multiple devices, directly and indirectly, using push (server-initiated) and/or pull (client-initiated) techniques from a single location. Additionally, the preferred embodiment may be utilized to back up and securely store information on the mobile clients, identify device usage and to deliver files and databases to the mobile clients.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/245,681, filed Nov. 6, 2000, entitled “Synchronization System, Methodand Medium”, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/245,711, filed Nov. 6,2000, entitled “Synchronization System, Method and Medium”, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/245,714, filed Nov. 6, 2000, entitled“Synchronization System, Method and Medium”, which are assigned to theassignee of this application. The disclosures of application Ser. Nos.60/245,681, 60/245,711, and 60/245,714 are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to development platforms forwireless devices. In particular, the present invention relates todevelopment platforms with an open architecture for flexible developmentand to a centralized synchronization mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Mobile devices (e.g., two-way text pagers, personal digital assistants,wireless application protocol telephones, etc.) have become acommonplace electronic device. The typical mobile device provides thecapability of executing application programs such as personalinformation management software, a calendar software, etc.

The mobile device may be typically interfaced with a desktop computerthrough an interface such as a cradle. The desktop computer may beconfigured to execute similar application programs as the mobile device.In addition, the desktop computer may be also configured to executesynchronization software. The synchronization software may be configuredto update data associated with the application programs shared by themobile device and the desktop computer.

Although the conventional system may be adequate to support applicationprograms, there may be some disadvantages or drawbacks. For instance,the synchronization between both the desktop computer and the mobiledevice is tied typically to the desktop computer. In other words, if themobile device could not establish a communication channel with thedesktop computer, the synchronization could not typically occur.

Moreover, if a custom application program is created and shared among agroup of users, any update to the custom application program may becumbersome at best. Specifically, when a new version or update to thecustom application program is created, the new version has to bedistributed to all the users in the group. This may involve transmittinga copy of the new version to each member of the group, which may involvea considerable amount of time. In addition, each user of the customapplication program will have to install any update. If the user isinexperienced or technologically-challenged, the update process may takea considerable amount of time and information technologies resources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, one aspectof the invention pertains to a method for optimizing transmissions. Themethod includes determining a largest record for a session andformatting a data payload for a packet, the record as large as thelargest record. The method also includes transmitting the packet.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus foroptimizing transmissions. The apparatus includes means for determining alargest record for a session, means for formatting a data payload for apacket, where the packet is as large as said largest record and meansfor transmitting the packet.

Yet another aspect of the present invention relates to a system formanaging clients. The system includes a session services moduleconfigured to provide session services for the clients and anadministrative service module configured to provide administrativemanagement service. The administrative service module is configured tomanage the clients through the session services module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various objects, features, and aspects of the present invention can bemore fully appreciated as the same become better understood withreference to the following detailed description of the present inventionwhen considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 where an embodiment of thepresent invention may be practiced in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary architecture of the application server120 shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture 300 of the admin service module 210shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary architecture 400 of the sync servicemodule 215 shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram 500 for a mode ofoperational for the session service module 205 shown in FIG. 2 and/orclient 110 shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the presentinvention are described by referring mainly to an exemplary embodimentof a centralized device management and synchronization system. However,one of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that the sameprinciples are equally applicable to, and can be implemented in, alltypes of systems providing open architecture support, and that any suchvariation does not depart from the true spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Moreover, in the following detailed description, referencesare made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specificembodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. Electrical,mechanical, logical and structural changes may be made to theembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense and the scope of the present invention isdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, oneaspect of the preferred embodiment relates to an application frameworkfor managing mobile clients and application programs. By utilizing thepreferred embodiment, a system administrator may be provided thecapability to manage and control multiple devices, directly andindirectly, using push (server-initiated) and/or pull (client-initiated)techniques from a single location. Additionally, the preferredembodiment may be utilized to back up and securely store information onthe mobile clients, identify device usage and to deliver files anddatabases to the mobile clients.

In another aspect, another embodiment of the present invention may beutilized to provide centralized synchronization services for mobileclients on an application server. The application server may beconfigured to provide a central location for mobile clients tosynchronize with respective enterprise databases. The application servermay also provide for a centralize location for system administrators totrack the mobile clients and to manage the devices implementing themobile clients.

In yet another aspect, the present invention may be configured toprovide an application framework to implement application software. Byutilizing this embodiment of the present invention, developers areprovided an open architecture platform to develop software applications.Moreover, the open architecture platform promotes flexibility inallowing software developers develop one product that can easily migrateacross multiple electronic devices or platforms.

In yet another aspect, the present invention may be utilized toefficiently transfer information between a mobile client and anapplication server. In particular, the embodiment provides for anoptimization method for data transmitted between the mobile client andthe application server. A sender of data implements the optimizationmethod by first determining the maximum transmission unit (MTU) over thelink between the sender and the receiver for a session. The embodimentdetermines the largest record supported by the MTU. The sender formats adata packet ensuring that a record is as large as size of the largestrecord by stuffing the data payload of the data packet with data aslarge as the largest record. The sender repeats this operation until allthe data is transmitted. Accordingly, by packet stuffing the datapackets, the bandwidth between the mobile link and the applicationserver is maximized, thereby reducing the transmission overhead andincreasing throughput.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 where an embodiment of thepresent invention may be practiced in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includesclients 110, an application server 120 and a user enterprise database130. Although, for illustrative purposes only, FIG. 1 illustrates thesystem 100 with the above-mentioned components, it should be readilyapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that FIG. 1 represents ageneralized schematic illustration of the system 100 and that othercomponents may be added or existing components may be removed ormodified without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention.

The clients 110 may be configured to provide a mobile computing platformto execute application programs. The clients 110 may be implemented on atext-pager, a personal digital assistant, a wireless mobile telephonewith or without integrated displays and other similar devices. Each ofthe clients 110 may be configured to execute a client program that maybe implemented as a software program, utility and/or subroutine tointerface with the application server 110. The client may be configuredto provide the software (e.g., utilities, application specific software,etc.,) to support session services.

The application server 120 may be configured to provide a variety ofservices to the clients 110. These services may include session-basedservices such instant messaging, database querying, and other similarservices. The supporting applications of these session-based servicesmay be provided by an application server 120. The application server 120may be configured to provide an application such as instant messagingapplication, a web application, a database querying application, andother similar applications. The application server 120 may beimplemented by any number of commercially available servers or highperformance computers.

The clients 110 and the application server 120 may be configured tocommunicate with each other utilizing wired, wireless, or combinationthereof networks. For instance, the clients 110 and the applicationserver 120 may utilize radio-frequency technology as a medium forcommunication. The clients 110 and the application server 120 may beconfigured to utilize network protocols such as Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), X.25, MOBITEX or other similarnetwork protocols to support the physical network.

The application server 120 may be configured to interface with theenterprise database 130. The enterprise database 130 may be configuredto provide storage for data involved in the application programsprovided by the application server 120.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, theapplication server 120 may be configured provide an applicationframework for managing mobile clients and application programs. Inparticular, the application server 120 may be configured to manage andcontrol multiple clients 110 using both application server 120 initiatedand client 110 initiated techniques. The application server 120 may bealso configured to provide back-up and restore services for the clients110. The application server 120 may be further configured to provideadministrative services to system administrators by providing acentralized management functions of clients 110, distribution ofapplication programs, and transfer of data between the clients 110 andthe application server 120.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, theapplication server 120 may be configured to optimize the transfer ofdata between the clients 110 and the application server 120. Theapplication server 120 and the client 110 may be configured to maximizethe data transferred. In particular, a sender (either application server120 or client 110) may be configured to determine the MTU for thecurrent session. The sender may then configure subsequent data packetsto be configured with the maximum payload of data as determined from thesize of the MTU. Accordingly, by maximizing the payload of each datapacket, the bandwidth of the communication channel between theapplication server 120 and the client 110 may be optimized.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary architecture of the application server120 shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 2, the application server 120 may include asession services module 205, an administrative service module 210, asynchronization services module 215, and a conduit module 220 as anapplication framework. Although, for illustrative purposes only, FIG. 2illustrates the architecture of the application server 120 with theabove-mentioned components, it should be readily apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art that FIG. 2 represents a generalized schematicillustration of the application server 120 and that other components maybe added or existing components may be removed or modified withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

The session services module 205 of the application server 120 may beconfigured to manage multiple clients and respective resources. Thesession services module 205 may be also configured to initiateadministrative services, encryption services and be responsible fortransferring information between the application server 120 and themobile clients.

The session services module 205 may be also configured to interface withan administrative service module 210 (labeled Admin Service Module inFIG. 2). The admin service module 210 may be configured to collectdevice information, install new files and/or databases on mobile clients110, compiling an inventory of files and/or databases on a client, andother administrative tasks. The admin service module 210 may beimplemented as a Component Object Model (COM) object.

FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture 300 of the admin service module 210shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 3, a management session class 305 may be theprimary object of the admin service module 210. A batch event managerclass 310, an install manager class 315, a profile manager class 320, aserver log manager class 325, a server setting manager class 330 and aservice manager class 335 may inherit from the management session class305. A device manager class 340 not only inherits from the managementsession class 305 but also from the profile manager class 320.

The management session class 305 may be configured to manage sessionsbetween the clients 110 and the application server 120 and holds thereferences for the current session that is occurring. To manage thesessions, the management session class 305 may implement the followingmethods: a ‘CONNECT’, ‘DISCONNECT’, ‘GET BATCH EVENT MANAGER’, GETCONNECTION STATUS’, ‘GET DEVICE MANAGER’, ‘GET LAST ERROR NUMBER’, ‘GETLAST ERROR TEXT’, ‘GET PROFILE MANAGER’, ‘GET SERVER LOG MANAGER’, ‘GETSERVER SETTING MANAGER’, and ‘GET SERVICE MANAGER’.

The ‘CONNECT’ method may be configured to establish a connection to thesession services module 205. The ‘DISCONNECT’ method may be configuredto close the active connection to the session services module 205. Itreleases all the memory associated with a management client. The ‘GETBATCH EVENT MANAGER’ method may be configured to return the activeobject of an instantiation of the batch event manager class 310. The‘GET CONNECTION STATUS’ method may be configured to return the currentconnection status with the session services module 205. The ‘GET DEVICEMANAGER’ method may be configured to return the active object of aninstantiation of the device manager class 340. The ‘GET LAST ERRORNUMBER’ method may be configured to return an error number for aprevious function call if the previous function call to an object of aninstantiation of the management session class 305 failed. The ‘GET LASTERROR TEXT’ method may be configured to return an error text for theprevious function call if the previous function call to object of aninstantiation of the management session class 305 failed. The ‘GETPROFILE MANAGER’ method may be configured to return an active object ofan instantiation of the profile manager class 330. The ‘GET SERVER LOGMANAGER’ may be configured to return the active object of aninstantiation of the server log manager class 325. The ‘GET SERVERSETTING MANAGER’ method may be configured to return the active object ofan instantiation of the setting manager class 330. The ‘GET SERVICEMANAGER’ method may be configured to returns the active object of aninstantiation of the service manager class 335.

Accordingly, a management session object may be instantiated from themanagement session class 305 to manage a session. For instance, themanagement session object may call the ‘CONNECT’ method in order toestablish a connection between a client and the application server 120or the ‘DISCONNECT’ method to break a connection between a client andthe application server 120.

The batch event manager class 310 may be configured to schedulesynchronization events on a periodic basis or a timed-basis. Forexample, a batch event may invoke a conduit on the application server140 at ten o'clock pm every night to retrieve the latest news. Toimplement this type of functionality, the batch event manager class 310may implement at least the following methods: ‘ASK CREATE BATCH ENTRY’,‘GET DELETE BATCH ENTRY’, ‘ASK UPDATE BATCH ENTRY’, GET BATCH COUNT’,‘GET BATCH COUNT’, ‘GET CONDUIT ID’, and ‘GET SERVICE ID’.

The ‘ASK CREATE BATCH ENTRY’ method may be configured to send a requestto the session services module 205 to create a new batch event. The ‘GETDELETE BATCH ENTRY’ method may be configured to send a request to thesession services module 205 to delete a batch event. The ‘ASK UPDATEBATCH ENTRY’ method may be configured to send a request to the sessionservices module 205 to update a modified batch event. The ‘GET BATCHCOUNT’ method may be configured to return the number of batch events inthe session services module 205. The ‘GET BATCH COUNT’ method may beconfigured to return the batch event ID. The ‘GET CONDUIT ID’ method maybe configured to return the batch event conduit D. The ‘GET SERVICE ID’method may be configured to return the batch event service ID.

Accordingly, a user and/or developer may use a batch event managerobject, instantiated from the batch event manger class 310, to scheduleevents. For instance, a user may invoke the ‘ASK CREATE BATCH ENTRY’ toschedule a synchronization event with the application server 120.

The install manager class 315 may be configured to provide thecapability to queue files for installation on the clients 110 from theapplication server 110. In order to provide this functionality, theinstall manager class 315 may be configured to implement at least thefollowing methods: ‘ADD FILE TO PACKAGE’, ‘ADD GROUP TO PACKAGE’, ‘ADDUSER TO PACKAGE’, ‘ASK UPDATE PACKAGE’, ‘CREATE NEW PACKAGE’, ‘DELETEPACKAGE’, ‘FIND PACKAGE BY NAME’, ‘GET PACKAGE DESCRIPTION’, ‘REMOVEFILE FROM PACKAGE’, ‘REMOVE GROUP FROM PACKAGE’, and ‘REMOVE USER FROMPACKAGE’.

The ‘ADD FILE TO PACKAGE’ method may be configured to add a file to acurrent package. The ‘ADD GROUP TO PACKAGE’ method may be configured toassign a group to a current package. The ‘ADD USER TO PACKAGE’ methodmay be configured to assign a user to a current package. The ‘ASK UPDATEPACKAGE’ method may be configured to send a request to the sessionservices module 205 to add a modified package or a newly createdpackage. The ‘CREATE NEW PACKAGE’ method may be configured to creates anew package in the API. The ‘DELETE PACKAGE’ method may be configured todelete the package from the session services module 205. The ‘FINDPACKAGE BY NAME’ method may be configured to return the package index ina package list. The ‘GET PACKAGE DESCRIPTION’ method may be configuredto return the description of a package. The ‘REMOVE FILE FROM PACKAGE’method may be configured to removes a file from a current package. The‘REMOVE GROUP FROM PACKAGE’ method may be configured to remove a groupfrom a current package. The ‘REMOVE USER FROM PACKAGE’ method may beconfigured to remove a user from a current package.

The profile manager class 320 may be configured to manage the profilesof the users of the application server 120. To implement this type offunctionality, the profile manager class 320 may implement at least thefollowing methods: ‘ADD CONDUIT TO GROUP’, ‘ADD CONDUIT TO USER’, ‘ADDGROUP MEMBER’, ‘ADD NEW GROUP’, ‘ADD NEW USER’, ‘ADD USER TO GROUP’,‘ASK GROUP DETAILS’, ‘DELETE GROUP’, ‘DELETE USER’, ‘GET CONNECTED USERCOUNT’, ‘GET GROUP CONDUIT’, ‘GET GROUP CONDUIT COUNT’, ‘GET GROUPNAME’, ‘REMOVE CONDUIT FROM USER’, ‘REMOVE GROUP CONDUIT’, ‘REMOVE GROUPFROM GROUP’, ‘REMOVE USER FROM GROUP’, ‘SET GROUP INFO’, and ‘SET USERINFO’.

The ‘ADD CONDUIT TO GROUP’ method may be configured to add a conduit toa group. The ‘ADD CONDUIT TO USER’ method may be configured to add theconduit to a user. The ‘ADD GROUP MEMBER’ method may be configured toadd a user to a current group. The ‘ADD NEW GROUP’ method may beconfigured to add a new group to a group list. The ‘ADD NEW USER’ methodmay be configured to add a new user to a user list. The ‘ADD USER TOGROUP’ method may be configured to add a user to a group. The ‘ASK GROUPDETAILS’ method may be configured to send a request to the sessionservices module 205 to get detailed information on a group. It alsomoves the cursor to the group whose details were requested. The ‘DELETEGROUP’ method may be configured to delete a group. The ‘DELETE USER’method may be configured to delete a user. The ‘GET CONNECTED USERCOUNT’ method may be configured to return a number of users currentlyconnected to the session services module 205. The ‘GET GROUP CONDUIT’method may be configured to return a conduit assigned to a group. The‘GET GROUP CONDUIT COUNT’ method may be configured to return a number ofconduits assigned to a group. The ‘GET GROUP NAME’ method may beconfigured to return a group name. The ‘REMOVE CONDUIT FROM USER’ methodmay be configured to remove the conduit from the user. The ‘REMOVE GROUPCONDUIT’ method may be configured to remove the conduit from a group.The ‘REMOVE GROUP FROM GROUP’ method may be configured to remove a groupfrom another group. The ‘REMOVE USER FROM GROUP’ method may beconfigured to removes a user from a group. The ‘SET GROUP INFO’ methodmay be configured to set a group's information fields. The ‘SET USERINFO’ method may be configured to set a user's information fields.

The server log manager class 325 may be configured to provide thecapability for developers to add messages to a log file maintained bythe application server 120. In order to implement this functionality,the server log manager class 325 may implement at least the followingmethods: ‘ASK SERVER LOGS’, ‘GET COUNT’, ‘GET DATE’, ‘GET OWNER NAME’,‘GET SERVER NAME’, ‘GET TEXT’, ‘GET TYPE’, ‘TRUNCATE SERVER LOG VALUE’.

The ‘ASK SERVER LOGS’ method may be configured to send a request to thesession services module 205 to retrieve the server logs. The ‘GET COUNT’method may be configured to return the number of log entries in theServer. The ‘GET DATE’ method may be configured to return the time thecurrent log entry was made. The ‘GET OWNER NAME’ method may beconfigured to return the source of the log. The ‘GET SERVER NAME’ methodmay be configured to return the name of the Server that stores the logs.‘GET TEXT’ method may be configured to return the log text. The ‘GETTYPE’ method may be configured to return the log type. ‘TRUNCATE SERVERLOG VALUE’ method may be configured to truncate the session servicesmodule 205 logs to a predefined number.

The server setting manager class 330 may be configured to provide thecapability for a developer to get configuration information about theinstallation of the application server 120. To implement thisfunctionality, the server setting manager class 330 may be configured toimplement at least the following methods: ‘ASK CURRENT STATS’, ‘DISABLEDEFAULT GROUP’, ‘GET AVAILABLE SYSTEM MEMORY’, ‘GET AVAILABLE VIRTUALMEMORY’, ‘GET CURRENT SERVER MEMORY’, ‘GET DEFAULT GROUP’, ‘GET OS BUILDVERSION’, ‘GET SERVER KEY’, ‘GET START TIME’, ‘SET MAX LOG ENTRIES’,‘TOGGLE PASSWORD VALIDATION’, and ‘TOGGLE SECURE ADMIN’.

The ASK CURRENT STATS’ method may be configured to send a request to thesession services module 205 to get the current server settings. The‘DISABLE DEFAULT GROUP’ method may be configured to disable a defaultgroup. The ‘GET AVAILABLE SYSTEM MEMORY’ method may be configured toreturn the available system memory (in bytes). The ‘GET AVAILABLEVIRTUAL MEMORY’ method may be configured to return an available virtualmemory. The ‘GET CURRENT SERVER MEMORY’ method may be configured toreturns the current server memory. The ‘GET DEFAULT GROUP’ method may beconfigured to return a default group to which new users will beassigned. The ‘GET OS BUILD VERSION’ method may be configured to returnthe OS build version number. The ‘GET SERVER KEY’ method may beconfigured to returns the Server license key. The ‘GET START TIME’method may be configured to return the session services module 205 starttime. The ‘SET MAX LOG ENTRIES’ method may be configured to set themaximum number of entries to log before truncating. The ‘TOGGLE PASSWORDVALIDATION’ method may be configured to turn password validation on oroff. The ‘TOGGLE SECURE ADMIN’ method may be configured to turnadministrator security on or off.

The service manager class 335 may be configured to modifysynchronization services to the application server 120. In order toimplement this functionality, the service manager class 335 may beconfigured to implement at least the following methods: ‘ADD NEWCONDUIT’, ‘ADD SERVICE TO CONDUIT’, ‘ASK UPDATE CONDUIT’, ‘CLIENT MOVEFIRST’, ‘CLIENT MOVE LAST’, ‘CONDUIT MOVE FIRST’, ‘CONDUIT MOVE LAST’,‘GET CLIENT DEVICE NAME’, ‘GET CLIENT FILE NAME’, ‘GET CLIENT FILEVERSION’, ‘GET CONDUIT COUNT’, ‘GET CONDUIT NAME’, ‘GET SERVICE ID’, ‘ISNEW CONDUIT’, ‘SERVICE. MOVE FIRST’, ‘SERVICE MOVE LAST’, and ‘SETCONDUIT INFO’.

The ‘ADD NEW CONDUIT’ method may be configured to add a new conduit tothe conduit list. The ‘ADD SERVICE TO CONDUIT’ method may be configuredto add a service to the conduit. The ‘ASK UPDATE CONDUIT’ method may beconfigured to send a request to the session services module 205 to add amodified conduit. The ‘CLIENT MOVE FIRST’ method may be configured tomove to a first client in a client list. The ‘CLIENT MOVE LAST’ methodmay be configured to move to a last client in a client list. The‘CONDUIT MOVE FIRST’ method may be configured to move to the firstconduit in a conduit list. The ‘CONDUIT MOVE LAST’ method may beconfigured to move to the last conduit in the conduit list. The ‘GETCLIENT DEVICE NAME’ method may be configured to return the device nameof a client. The ‘GET CLIENT FILE NAME’ method may be configured toreturn a file name for a client. The ‘GET CLIENT PILE VERSION’ methodmay be configured to return a file version for a client. The ‘GETCONDUIT COUNT’ method may be configured to return a number of conduitsin a conduit list. The ‘GET CONDUIT NAME’ method may be configured toreturn a conduit name. The ‘GET SERVICE ID’ method may be configured toreturn the service name. The ‘IS NEW CONDUIT’ method may be configuredto determine if a current conduit is new. The ‘SERVICE MOVE FIRST’method may be configured to move to a first service in a service list.The ‘SERVICE MOVE LAST’ method may be configured to moves to a lastservice in a service list. The ‘SET CONDUIT INFO’ method may beconfigured to set a configuration for a new conduit.

The device manager class 340 may be configured to implement at least thefollowing methods: ‘ADD INVENTORY ITEM TO LIST’, ‘ADD NEW INVENTORYLIST’, ‘ASK UPDATE INVENTORY LIST’, ‘GET AVAILABLE PROGRAM MEMORY’, ‘GETAVAILABLE STORAGE MEMORY’, ‘GET BATTERY STATUS’, ‘GET LOCAL COUNTRY’,‘GET LOCAL LANGUAGE’, ‘GET OWNER NAME’, ‘GET SCREEN DIMENSIONS’, ‘GETINVENTORY APP COUNT’, ‘GET INVENTORY APP FILE NAME’, ‘GET INVENTORY APPFILE VERSIONS’, ‘GET OS BUILD VERSION’.

The ‘ADD INVENTORY ITEM TO LIST’ method may be configured to add anapplication or database (for which the delete properties need to bechanged) to the new inventory list. The ‘ADD NEW INVENTORY LIST’ methodmay be configured to create an inventory list in the device memory. The‘ASK UPDATE INVENTORY LIST’ method may be configured to send a requestto the session services module 205 to update the items in an inventorylist. The ‘GET AVAILABLE PROGRAM MEMORY’ method may be configured toreturn the available program memory on a device. The ‘GET AVAILABLESTORAGE MEMORY’ method may be configured to return the available storagememory on a device. The ‘GET BATTERY STATUS’ method may be configured toreturns the battery status for a device. The ‘GET LOCAL COUNTRY’ methodmay be configured to returns the local country setting for a device. The‘GET LOCAL LANGUAGE’ method may be configured to returns the locallanguage setting for a device. The ‘GET OWNER NAME’ method may beconfigured to return a device owner's name. The ‘GET SCREEN DIMENSIONS’returns the screen dimensions of a device. The ‘GET INVENTORY APP COUNT’method may be configured to return a number of applications stored on adevice. The ‘GET INVENTORY APP PILE NAME’ method may be configured toreturn the application file name stored on a device. The ‘GET INVENTORYAPP FILE VERSIONS’ method may be configured to return the applicationfile version stored on a device. The ‘GET OS BUILD VERSION’ method maybe configured to returns an OS build version number.

Accordingly, a developer may utilize the administrative service module210 to manage, control, or integrate application programs and/or clients110. For instance, the developer may use the ‘ADD PILE TO PACKAGE’method of the install manager class 315 to add a software applicationfor a client. Specifically, when a client logs into the applicationserver 120, the application server 120 may be configured to deliver aset of application programs, i.e., a package, to the client based on aclient profile. Thus, a system administrator of the application server120 may centrally distribute software applications to the appropriateclients.

Another example of the management services provided by theadministrative services module 210 is client management. A developer mayutilize the profile manager class 320 to integrate profile managementfunctions into an application. Specifically, the developer may use the‘ADD USER TO GROUP’ to add a user to a group, where the group may be anumber of clients organize by the system administrator. Accordingly, adeveloper or system administrator may utilize the methods of theadministrative service module 210 to manage, control, and developapplication programs for the application server 120. Moreover, since theadministrative service module 210 is configured with a COM interface,developers and/or users may utilize many types of programming languages(e.g., VISUAL BASIC, VISUAL C++, etc.) to develop applications toutilize the methods of the administrative service module 210.

Returning to FIG. 2, the session services module 205 may be furtherconfigured to interface with the sync service module 215. The syncservice module 215 may be configured to oversee the synchronizationsession and manages the communication between the session servicesmodule 205 and the conduit module 220. The sync service module 215 mayalso be configured to determine the appropriate conduit and fortransferring data between the session services module 205 and theconduit module 220. The sync service module 215 may be implemented as aCOM object.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary architecture 400 of the sync servicemodule 215 shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the sync service module 215includes a sync session object 405, a data manager object 410, a devicemanager object 415, and a database object 420.

The sync session object 405 may be an instantiation of a sync sessionclass with a COM interface. The sync session class may be configured toexecute at least the following methods: ‘ADD LOG ENTRY’, ‘GET CONDUITID’, ‘GET CONDUIT ROOT’, ‘GET DATA MANAGER’, ‘GET DEVICE MANAGER’, ‘GETLAST ERROR’, ‘GET LAST ERROR TEXT’, ‘GET PROFILE ID’, ‘GET SERVICE ID’,and ‘GET SERVER ROOT’.

The ‘ADD LOG ENTRY’ method may be configured to add a text entry to theuser's session log. The ‘GET CONDUIT ID’ method may be configured todetermine a conduit name. The ‘GET CONDUIT ROOT’ method may beconfigured to determine the current conduit root directory. The ‘GETDATA MANAGER’ method may be configured to create an instance of anobject that represents the data manager. The ‘GET DEVICE MANAGER’ methodmay be configured to create an instance of a device manager object,which is detailed later herein below. The ‘GET LAST ERROR’ method may beconfigured to determine the last data manager object function call errorstatus. The ‘GET LAST ERROR TEXT’ method may be configured to determinethe last sync session object function call error text. The ‘GET PROFILEID’ method may be configured to determine the current user profile ID.The ‘GET SERVICE ID’ method may be configured to determine the programID of the parent service. The ‘GET SERVER ROOT’ method may be configuredto determine a current server root directory.

The data manager object 410 may be an instantiation of a data managerclass with a COM interface. The data manager class may be configured toimplement the following methods: ‘CALL RPC APP’, ‘CREATE ADODB’, ‘DBEXISTS’, ‘DELETE DB’, ‘DELETE FILE’, ‘DELETE VOLUME’, ‘DISPLAY STATUSMESSAGE’, ‘DISPLAY USER MESSAGE’, ‘FILE EXISTS’, ‘GET FILE FROM CLIENT’,‘GET FILE LAST MODIFIED’, ‘GET LAST ERROR’, ‘GET LAST ERROR TEXT’, ‘GETREGISTRY VALUE FROM CLIENT’, ‘GET RPC ERROR CODE’, ‘NEW DB’, ‘OPEN DBFROM CLIENT’, ‘OPEN DB FROM DISK’, ‘QUEUE DB FOR INSTALL’, ‘QUEUE FILEFOR INSTALL’, ‘SEND FILE TO CLIENT’, ‘SEND REGISTRY VALUE TO CLIENT’,‘SET CLIENT ERROR NOTIFICATION’, ‘WRITE DB TO CLIENT’, and ‘WRITE DB TODISK’.

The ‘CALL RPC APP’ method may be configured to execute a remoteapplication on the mobile device. The ‘CREATE ADODB’ method may beconfigured to create a new ADO database. The ‘DB EXISTS’ method may beconfigured to determine whether or not a database exists on the remotedevice. The ‘DELETE DB’ method may be configured to delete a databasefrom the remote device. The ‘DELETE FILE’ method may be configured todelete a file from the remote device. The ‘DELETE VOLUME’ method may beconfigured to delete a volume on the remote device. The ‘DISPLAY STATUSMESSAGE’ method may be configured to display text in a client mainstatus bar area. The ‘DISPLAY USER MESSAGE’ method may be configured todisplay a status or inquiry message. The ‘FILE EXISTS’ method may beconfigured to determine whether or not a file exists on the remotedevice. The ‘GET FILE FROM CLIENT’ method may be configured to copy afile from a remote device to the local file system. The ‘GET FILE LASTMODIFIED’ method may be configured to determine the date and time thatthe file was last modified. The ‘GET LAST ERROR’ method may beconfigured to determine the last data manager object 410 function callerror status. The ‘GET LAST ERROR TEXT’ method may be configured todetermine the last data manager object 410 function call error text. The‘GET REGISTRY VALUE FROM CLIENT’ method may be configured to retrieve aspecified registry value. The ‘GET RPC ERROR CODE’ method may beconfigured to determine the last error code from the ‘CALL RPC APP’method. The ‘NEW DB’ method may be configured to create a new database.The ‘OPEN DB FROM CLIENT’ method may be configured to open a databasefrom the client device. The ‘OPEN DB FROM DISK’ method may be configuredto open a database from a file. The ‘QUEUE DB FOR INSTALL’ method may beconfigured to queue a database to be copied to the remote device,usually for conduits running in batch mode. The ‘QUEUE FILE FOR INSTALL’method may be configured to queue a file to be copied to the remotedevice, usually for conduits running in batch mode. The ‘SEND FILE TOCLIENT’ method may be configured to copy a file to a remote device. The‘SEND REGISTRY VALUE TO CLIENT’ method may be configured to set aspecified registry value. The ‘SET CLIENT ERROR NOTIFICATION’ method maybe configured to set the client error notification. The ‘WRITE DB TOCLIENT’ method may be configured to write a database to the remotedevice. The ‘WRITE DB TO DISK’ method may be configured to write adatabase to a physical file.

The device manager object 415 may be an instantiation of a data managerclass with a COM interface. The device manager class may be configuredto implement the following methods: ‘GET AVAILABLE PROGRAM MEMORY’, ‘GETAVAILABLE STORAGE MEMORY’, ‘GET BACKUP BATTERY STATUS’, ‘GET BATTERSTATUS’, ‘GET BATTERY SUSPEND DURATION’, ‘GET COLOR DEPTH’, ‘GETCOUNTRY’, ‘GET EXTERNAL SUSPEND DURATION’, ‘GET INSTALLED APPLICATION’,‘GET INSTALLED APPLICATION COUNT’, ‘GET INSTALLED DB’, ‘GET INSTALLED DBCOUNT’, ‘GET LANGUAGE’, ‘GET LAST ERROR’, ‘GET LAST ERROR EXT’, ‘GETLAST REFRESH TIME’, ‘GET NAME’, ‘GET OEM INFO’, ‘GET OS BUILD’, ‘GET OSMAJOR’, ‘GET OS MINOR’, ‘GET OS PLATFORM’, ‘GET OWNER’, ‘GET POWERSOURCE’, ‘GET PROCESSOR TYPE’, ‘GET REMAINING BACKUP BATTERY LIFE’, ‘GETREMAINING BATTERY LIFE’, ‘GET SCREEN HEIGHT’, ‘GET SCREEN WIDTH’, ‘GETTIME ZONE’, ‘GET TOTAL BACKUP BATTERY LIFE’, ‘GET TOTAL BATTERY LIFE’,‘GET TOTAL MEMORY’, ‘GET TOTAL STORAGE MEMORY’, ‘GET TOTAL PROGRAMMEMORY’, ‘HAS BEEN HARD RESET’, and ‘REFRESH’.

The ‘GET AVAILABLE PROGRAM MEMORY’ method may be configured to determinethe available program memory. The ‘GET AVAILABLE STORAGE MEMORY’ methodmay be configured to determine the available storage memory. The ‘GETBACKUP BATTERY STATUS’ method may be configured to determine the statusof the backup battery level. The ‘GET BATTERY STATUS’ method may beconfigured to determine the status of a main battery level. The ‘GETBATTERY SUSPEND DURATION’ method may be configured to determine the idletime of a device before a battery enters suspend mode.

The ‘GET COLOR DEPTH’ method may be configured to determine a totalnumber of colors available on a device. The ‘GET COUNTRY’ method may beconfigured to determine a device's country locale. The ‘GET EXTERNALSUSPEND DURATION’ method may be configured to determine how long thedevice remains idle while on external power before entering a suspendmode.

The ‘GET INSTALLED APPLICATION’ method may be configured to determinesthe name of a installed application. The ‘GET INSTALLED APPLICATIONCOUNT’ method may be configured to determine the total number ofinstalled applications on a remote device. The ‘GET INSTALLED DB’ methodmay be configured to determine a full name of an installed database. The‘GET INSTALLED DB COUNT’ method may be configured to determine thenumber of databases installed on a remote device. The ‘GET LANGUAGE’method may be configured to determine the device's language locale.

The ‘GET LAST ERROR’ method may be configured to determine the lastdevice manager object 415 function call error status. The ‘GET LASTERROR TEXT’ method may be configured to determine the last devicemanager object 415 function call error text. The ‘GET LAST REFRESH TIME’method may be configured to determine the date and time of the lastdevice information refresh. The ‘GET NAME’ method may be configured todetermine the device name.

The ‘GET OEM INFO’ method may be configured to determine the device OEMinformation. The ‘GET OS BUILD’ method may be configured to determinethe OS build version number. The ‘GET OS MAJOR’ method may be configuredto determine the OS major version number. The ‘GET OS MINOR’ method maybe configured to determine the OS minor version number. The ‘GET OSPLATFORM’ method may be configured to determine the OS platform ofdevice.

The ‘GET OWNER’ method may be configured to determines the device'sowner. The ‘GET POWER SOURCE’ method may be configured to determine thepower source of the device. The ‘GET PROCESSOR TYPE’ method may beconfigured to determine the processor type of the device. The ‘GETREMAINING BACKUP BATTERY LIFE’ method may be configured to determine theremaining life of the backup battery, in seconds. The ‘GET REMAININGBATTERY LIFE’ method may be configured to determine the remaining lifeof the main battery, in seconds. The ‘GET SCREEN HEIGHT’ method may beconfigured to determines a current screen height, in pixels. The ‘GETSCREEN WIDTH’ method may be configured to determine a current screenwidth, in pixels. The ‘GET TIME ZONE’ method may be configured todetermine a device's time zone locale. The ‘GET TOTAL BACKUP BATTERYLIFE’ method may be configured to determine a total life of the backupbattery, in seconds. The ‘GET TOTAL BATTERY LIFE’ method may beconfigured to determine a total life of the main battery, in seconds.

The ‘GET TOTAL MEMORY’ method may be configured to determine a totalphysical memory, in bytes. The ‘GET TOTAL STORAGE MEMORY’ method may beconfigured to determine the size of a total storage memory, in bytes.The ‘GET TOTAL PROGRAM MEMORY’ method may be configured to determine asize of total program memory, in bytes. The ‘HAS BEEN HARD RESET’ methodmay be configured to determine if a device has been hard reset. The‘REFRESH’ method may be configured to retrieve the latest deviceinformation.

The database object 420 may be an instantiation of a database class witha COM interface. The database class may be configured to implement thefollowing methods: ‘ADD DELETION MAPPED RECORD’, ‘ADD DELETION RECORD’,‘ADD MODIFIED MAPPED RECORD’, ‘ADD MODIFIED RECORD’, ‘ADD NEW MAPPEDRECORD’, ‘ADD NEW RECORD’, ‘ADD SORT’, ‘FIND MAPPING FROM RID’, ‘FINDRECORD INDEX FROM MAP ID’, ‘FIND RECORD INDEX FROM RID’, ‘FIND RID FROMMAPPING’, ‘GET HELD COUNT’, ‘GET ID’, ‘GET LAST ERROR’, ‘GET LAST ERRORTEXT’, ‘GET MAPPING FROM MAP TABLE’, ‘GET MAP TABLE COUNT’, ‘GET NAME’,‘GET RECORD COUNT’, ‘GET RECORD ID’, ‘GET RECORD INDEX’, ‘GET RECORDITEM’, ‘GET RECORD ITEM BY ID’, ‘GET RECORD ITEM ID’, ‘GET RECORD ITEMTYPE’, ‘GET RECORD ITEM TYPE BY ID’, ‘GET RECORD LAYOUT’, ‘GET RECORDMAP IP’, ‘GET RID FROM MAP TABLE’, ‘GET SORT COUNT’, ‘GET SORT FLAG’,‘GET SORT ID’, ‘GET SORT TYPE’, ‘IS EOF’, ‘IS RECORD DELETED’, ‘ISRECORD MODIFIED’, ‘IS RECORD NEW’, ‘IS SORT FIELD’, ‘MOVE FIRST’, ‘MOVELAST’, ‘MOVE NEXT’, ‘MOVE PREVIOUS’, ‘MOVE TO’, ‘REMOVE ALL RECORDS’,‘REMOVE ALL SORTS’, ‘REMOVE RECORD’, ‘REMOVE SORT’, ‘SET RECORDDELETED’, ‘SET RECORD ITEM’, ‘SET RECORD ITEM BY ID’, and ‘SET RECORDMAP BY ID’.

The ‘ADD DELETION MAPPED RECORD’ method may be configured to add adeletion record to the database. The ‘ADD DELETION RECORD’ method may beconfigured to add a deletion record to the database. The ‘ADD MODIFIEDMAPPED RECORD’ method may be configured to add a modified record to thedatabase. The ‘ADD MODIFIED RECORD’ method may be configured to add amodified record to the database. The ‘ADD NEW MAPPED RECORD’ method maybe configured to add a new mapped record to the database. The ‘ADD NEWRECORD’ method may be configured to add a new record to database. The‘ADD SORT’ method may be configured to add a sort property to thedatabase.

The ‘FIND MAPPING FROM RID’ method may be configured to return a Map IDfor the record matching a specified record ID. The ‘FIND RECORD INDEXFROM MAP ID’ method may be configured to search a database for a recordindex position matching a specified map ID. The ‘FIND RECORD INDEX FROMRID’ method may be configured to search the database for a record indexposition for a specified record ID. The ‘FIND RID FROM MAPPING’ methodmay be configured to search a mapping table for a record ID matching aspecified map ID.

The ‘GET FIELD COUNT’ method may be configured to determine a number offields for a current record position. The ‘GET ID’ method may beconfigured to determine a database identifier. The ‘GET LAST ERROR’method may be configured to check a last database object 420 functioncall error status. The ‘GET LAST ERROR TEXT’ method may be configured todetermine the text of the last error code. The ‘GET MAPPING FROM MAPTABLE’ method may be configured to determine the map ID for a mappingtable. The ‘GET MAP TABLE COUNT’ method may be configured to determinethe number of items in the mapping table.

The ‘GET NAME’ method may be configured to a name of current databaseobject. The ‘GET RECORD COUNT’ method may be configured to count anumber of records in a database. The ‘GET RECORD ID’ method may beconfigured to determine a record ID of a current record position. The‘GET RECORD INDEX’ method may be configured to determine an index of acurrent record position. The ‘GET RECORD ITEM’ method may be configuredto retrieve field data in the current record position. The ‘GET RECORDITEM BY ID’ method may be configured to retrieve field data in a currentrecord position. The ‘GET RECORD ITEM ID’ method may be configured todetermine a layout of a current record position. The ‘GET RECORD ITEMTYPE’ method may be configured to determine a type of record item. The‘GET RECORD ITEM TYPE BY ID’ method may be configured to determine atype by record item ID. The ‘GET RECORD LAYOUT’ method may be configuredto determine the record layout of the current record position. The ‘GETRECORD MAP ID’ method may be configured to retrieve a map ID of acurrent record position. The ‘GET RID FROM MAP TABLE’ method may beconfigured to retrieve a map ID of a current record position. The ‘GETSORT COUNT’ method may be configured to read a number of sort propertiesin a database. The ‘GET SORT FLAG’ method may be configured to determinethe sort flag for a specified sort property. The ‘GET SORT ID’ methodmay be configured to determine a sort ID for a specified sort property.The ‘GET SORT TYPE’ method may be configured to determine a sort typefor a specified sort property.

The ‘IS EOF’ method may be configured to determine whether a currentrecord position is at the end of a database. The ‘IS RECORD DELETED’method may be configured to determine whether a current record positionis deleted. The ‘IS RECORD MODIFIED’ method may be configured todetermine whether a current record position is modified. The ‘IS RECORDNEW’ method may be configured to determine whether a current recordposition is new. The ‘IS SORT FIELD’ method may be configured todetermine whether a database is sorted on the field.

The ‘MOVE FIRST’ method may be configured to move from a current recordposition to first record in a database. The ‘MOVE LAST’ method may beconfigured to move from a current record position to the last record inthe database. The ‘MOVE NEXT’ method may be configured to Moves from acurrent record position to a next record in a database. The ‘MOVEPREVIOUS’ method may be configured to move from a current recordposition to a previous record in a database.

The ‘MOVE TO’ method may be configured to move a current record positionto a specified index. The ‘REMOVE ALL RECORDS’ method may be configuredto remove all records from a database. The ‘REMOVE ALL SORTS’ method maybe configured to remove all sort properties from a database. The ‘REMOVERECORD’ method may be configured to remove a current record from adatabase. The ‘REMOVE SORT’ method may be configured to delete a sortproperty at a specified index.

The ‘SET RECORD DELETED’ method may be configured to set a currentrecord's deleted flag. The ‘SET RECORD ITEM’ method may be configured toset a current record position. The ‘SET RECORD ITEM BY ID’ method may beconfigured to set the field data in a current record position. The ‘SETRECORD MAP BY ID’ method may be configured to set current record'smapping ID.

Returning to FIG. 2, the sync service module 215 may be also configuredto interface with the conduit module 220. The conduit module 220 may beconfigured to implement the synchronization logic for the applicationprograms. In particular, the conduit module 220 may perform thefunctions necessary to process files and databases located on the client110 and the enterprise database 130. The conduit module 220 may beimplemented using a COM object.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, auser utilizing a client may log into session services module 205. Thesession services module 205 may be configured to instantiate a sessionobject. The session services module 205 may also invoke the adminservice module 210 to execute associated administrative services on thesession object based on a user and/or device profile of the client. Theadmin service module 210 may also execute associate device services onthe session object based on a user and/or device profile of the client.Subsequently, the session services module 205 may pass the sessionobject to the sync services module 215.

The sync services module 215 may be configured to perform the associatedsync service on the session object based on the user, device, and/orapplication profiles. The sync services module 215 may then determinewhich conduits to execute for the client. Subsequently, the sessionobject is passed to the conduit module 220 for synchronization of theselected data as determined by the user, device, and/or applicationprofiles.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram 500 for a mode ofoperational for the data manager object 410 shown in FIG. 4 inaccordance with the principles of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, a sender of data (either the session services module205 or the client 110) may be configured to determine a maximumtransmission unit (‘MTU’) for a session, in step 505. The sender may usestandard built-in functionality of the TCP/IP network protocol todetermine the determine the maximum packet size that can be transferredwithout fragmentation.

In step 510, the data manager object 410 may be configured to determinethe largest record size supported by the maximum packet size. In step515, the data manager object 410 may be further configured to retrieve acurrent record for transmission.

In step 520, the data manager object 410 may be configured to comparethe size of the current record with the size of the largest record forthe session. If the size of the current record is less than the largestrecord, the data object manager object 410 may be also configured toretrieve the next record, in step 525.

In step 530, the data manager object 410 may be configured to format thecurrent record and a portion of the next record into a record that is aslarge as the largest record for the session. In step 535, the modifiedrecord is formatted as data payload for a data packet and subsequentlytransmitted, in step 540. The remainder portion of the next record maythen be processed with a subsequent record.

In step 545, the data manager object 410 may be configured to determinewhether there are any other records to transmit. If there are additionalrecords, the data manager object 410 returns to the processing of step515. Otherwise, the data manager object 410 may be configured to endtransmission.

Returning to step 520, if the data manager object 410 determines thatthe size of the current record is not smaller than the size of thelargest record for the session, the data manager object 410 may beconfigured to determine if the size of the current record is larger thanthe size of the largest record for the session. If the data managerobject 410 determines that the sizes are equivalent, the data managerobject 410 may be configured to go to the processing of step 535.Otherwise, the data manager object 410 may be configured to modify thecurrent record to the size of the largest record for the session, wherethe remainder of the current record to be processed in a subsequent datapacket. In step 565, the data manager object 410 may be furtherconfigured to format the data payload of a data packet with the modifiedcurrent record.

In step 570, the data manager object 410 may be configured to transmitthe data packet. The data manager object 410, in step 575, may be alsoconfigured to process the remainder of the current record for the nextdata packet by returning to the processing of step 520.

The sender may be configured to format packets to be transmitted so thatthe packets are packed with enough data so as to reach the maximumrecord size, in step 510. The sender may then be configured to transmitthe maximum sized packet, in step 515.

In step 520, the sender determines whether there is additional data tobe transmitted. If there is data, the sender repeats step 510 and step515. Otherwise, the sender ends transmission, in step 525.

In general, it should be emphasized that the various components ofembodiments of the present invention can be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination thereof. In such embodiments, the variouscomponents and steps would be implemented in hardware and/or software toperform the functions of the present invention. Any presently availableor future developed computer software language and/or hardwarecomponents can be employed in such embodiments of the present invention.For example, at least some of the functionality mentioned above could beimplemented using C, C++, or Visual Basic (Microsoft) programminglanguages.

While the invention has been described with reference to the exemplaryembodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to makevarious modifications to the described embodiments of the inventionwithout departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Theterms and descriptions used herein are set forth by way of illustrationonly and are not meant as limitations. In particular, although, themethod of the present invention has been described by examples, thesteps of the method may be performed in a different order thanillustrated or simultaneously. Those skilled in the art will recognizethat these and other variations are possible within the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined in the following claims and theirequivalents.

1. A method of optimizing transmissions, comprising: determining alargest record for session; formatting a data payload for a packet, saidpacket as large as said largest record; and transmitting said packet.2-19. (canceled)